I woke up finally feeling like I had had enough sleep. After a few days of holiday parties, eating and drinking, an early race on Saturday, I took it easy last night, no alcohol, no big dinner, just some babysitting for one of my colleagues' little girl who is just an adorable baby, really amused by things like buckles on toys and Greek cartoons. I now speak Greek at the level of a 1.5 year old and know everything that happens in nearly all episodes of Heidi. Nonetheless, it was a rather relaxing evening. This morning I woke up energized. I had plans to run with Rachel, we quickly set a time and place to meet, I had my cup of coffee and piece of toast with nutella before heading out. I almost decided to turn around as soon as I was out the door. It was the coldest day of the year yet! At 10am, in the wind, in just a couple of layers of running clothes, holy shit, I thought about quickly going back upstairs and calling Rachel before it was too late. It turns out she had the same plan. But in the end, we both decided that since we had already made plans to meet, we HAD TO go. That's one of the important reasons it's crucial to have a running buddy in the winter!
By the time we met up half an hour later, it was much more bearable to run in the cold. We chatted while we ran around the reservoir in this bright sunny December morning. At one point we saw a guy who looked to be a very good runner run the other way, and he waved and said good morning as he passed by. I asked Rachel if she knew him. Nope. She thought it was because it was cold outside, so people who were actually out running are respectable runners who deserve a "Good morning". I thought he must have been from outside of New York. Later on, we saw him again, then with a group of 4 guys, all very fast. They all said hello to us. Wow, are we still in NYC?? I had to head home after a lap and a half around the reservoir; my legs were pretty sore from yesterday's 15K and I stopped having any feeling in some fingers.
A hot shower, warm clothes, and it's suddenly like the day is about start but knowing that I had already run is such a great feeling. It makes the whole day feel so productive. I met up with some friends a little later: they wanted to come to my neighborhood to have a Senegalese lunch. I had heard that there were some pretty good Senegalese restaurants around here but I had never been before. The place they originally wanted to go to was closed: failed the health inspection. The few blocks just West of my place are West African as far as I can tell, and so it wasn't difficult to find another restaurant, called Kilimanjaro. We weren't sure what it was, but once we poke our heads in, a very nice young woman greeted us and ushered us in. It was warm and there was a table right next to the radiator so we took it. It was a very simple little restaurant, no real menus, just a card with some dished printed on it. She brought some tea and juice and then explained that they only had 3 dished today. There were 5 of us, we figured we would just get one of each and see what happens. The dishes were gigantic and absolutely delicious. Rice, meat, fish, veggies, spices, some stuff I couldn't identify, oh well, it all tasted very good and we couldn't even finish it all and oh my god, the whole thing cost $8/person! I can't remember the last time I ate in New York, or anywhere else, for $8! For so much food I was still not hungry 5 hours later! I gotta go back there sometime.
I went back home, made another cup of coffee, put in a movie, got my laptop and iPad out to the living room and did a little work. Then read a little, finishing the Steve Jobs biography. I loved loved it! Never though I would but that's what happened, it was almost 600 pages and I breezed through it in 2 weeks, with much else to do and another really good book that I am reading. In many ways, it inspired me. Jobs himself was a total asshole, by all means, I have no illusions about him, but there was something about him, about his genius, his insight, his products, his influence on our day-to-day lives that I could not get over, In fact, I went to the Apple store on 5th Ave yesterday - there is a whole chapter devoted to Apple stores in the book - just to walk through it, after having read that chapter, to look at it with a different perspective. Of course, on a Saturday afternoon, it was just nuts, impossible to walk through it, but that's just the point. It's a phenomenon. Whether we like it or not, it's become part of the culture. I admit I went to Best Buy after and bought a SmartCover for my iPad, which is super over-priced yet so cool, something that Jobs largely designed, something so simple and easy to use it's hard to argue against getting it. It's also a very pretty blue :)
While I was reading, my roommate's parents came over - they have been staying with us for a few weeks, or months, I can't remember now, but they are super nice so in any case, I don't mind - and I enthusiastically talked to them about Jobs for a few minutes, we had a glass of wine and some cheese and then I was off to my book club. Steve Jobs was the book for this month. Over some more wine, more cheese, we had heated discussions about whether it's more important to be a nice person or someone who truly makes a difference in the world, some even more heated political debate - some of my friends seem to think that Mitt Romney will be the next president - and a lot of catching up with good friends. After more than necessary amounts of wine was consumed, I decided to come home to try to pack. Only, when I got here, a cup of hot chocolate infused with Brandy was waiting for me and now it seems like packing might have to wait till tomorrow.
A few weeks ago I was accused - quite correctly - with being perpetually in motion. I have a hard time relaxing. I am not the kind of person who can stay at home all day and feel satisfied by let's say watching TV or just relaxing on the couch. I do stuff. Even when I don't have any plans, which is rare these days. It's great fun, always experiencing stuff. I wouldn't have it any other way. Today felt like my most relaxing day in a long time. Doing things I love. Seeing people I love. I might be ready for some sleep soon.
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